Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio Invests $2.89 Million in ASML Holding (NASDAQ:ASML)

Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio bought a new position in ASML Holding (NASDAQ:ASML - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 4,167 shares of the semiconductor company's stock, valued at approximately $2,888,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ASML. Edgewood Management LLC grew its stake in shares of ASML by 43.1% in the 4th quarter. Edgewood Management LLC now owns 3,186,667 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $2,208,615,000 after purchasing an additional 959,696 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its holdings in ASML by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 1,788,280 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $1,239,421,000 after buying an additional 31,231 shares in the last quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC grew its position in ASML by 2.8% in the fourth quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 1,252,849 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $868,324,000 after buying an additional 33,603 shares during the last quarter. Neuberger Berman Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of ASML by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Neuberger Berman Group LLC now owns 962,578 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $667,155,000 after buying an additional 13,115 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in shares of ASML by 5.4% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 898,544 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $622,769,000 after buying an additional 46,028 shares in the last quarter. 26.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently weighed in on ASML. Citigroup reissued a "buy" rating on shares of ASML in a research note on Monday, May 19th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on ASML from $860.00 to $840.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, Susquehanna cut their price objective on ASML from $1,100.00 to $965.00 and set a "positive" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, ASML has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $906.00.

ASML Stock Up 1.3%

Shares of ASML stock traded up $9.76 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $746.53. The company's stock had a trading volume of 812,010 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,672,454. ASML Holding has a 1-year low of $578.51 and a 1-year high of $1,110.09. The company has a quick ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 1.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. The firm has a market capitalization of $293.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.89, a PEG ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 1.75. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $687.99 and a 200-day simple moving average of $708.60.

ASML (NASDAQ:ASML - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 16th. The semiconductor company reported $6.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $6.12 by $0.19. ASML had a return on equity of 47.73% and a net margin of 26.78%. The firm had revenue of $8.77 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.90 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that ASML Holding will post 25.17 earnings per share for the current year.

About ASML

ASML Holding N.V. develops, produces, markets, sells, and services advanced semiconductor equipment systems for chipmakers. It offers advanced semiconductor equipment systems, including lithography, metrology, and inspection systems. The company also provides extreme ultraviolet lithography systems; and deep ultraviolet lithography systems comprising immersion and dry lithography solutions to manufacture various range of semiconductor nodes and technologies.